


The Birthday Experiment

by caffeinatednightowl, Mirror_Verse



Series: Mirror-Verse [51]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Birthday, Birthday Party, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-15
Updated: 2013-05-15
Packaged: 2017-12-11 23:43:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/804612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caffeinatednightowl/pseuds/caffeinatednightowl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirror_Verse/pseuds/Mirror_Verse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean makes plans for Sam’s birthday, but family is more important than any gift he could give.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Birthday Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> Art done by [Nekoshojo.](http://nekoshojo.tumblr.com)

“Cas, I need help,” Dean said as soon as Cas picked up on the other line. He glanced at the apartment door—Sam had left only a minute ago, but it looked like he wasn’t rushing back in for his keys or laptop like he did sometimes.

“With what?” asked Cas, sounding concerned. “Dean, are you okay? Is something—”

“No, damnit, I’m fine,” he said quickly, wishing he hadn’t worried Cas. “I just—need help—with something.” Dean cringed. He hated asking for this, but he was desperate. He knew when to fold ‘em.

“What?”

Dean sighed. “I need some help with Sammy’s birthday. Its two days from now and man—after that Disneyworld trip we took, money’s been pretty tight and I feel bad for asking this, but—”

“Dean,” Cas cut him off, “What do you need?”

Dean gulped. “Well, get your ass over here and we can figure it out.”

———————

Dean and Sam had never really had big birthdays. Except once, when Sam turned six, his mom had thrown a big party, complete with neighbor kids and balloon-making clown (that one backfired spectacularly, as Dean spent the majority of the party holding Sam while he cowered in the closet). After their Mom died, well, John Winchester wasn’t one for throwing his kids birthday parties.

Hell, he wasn’t even one for remembering his kids  _birthdays_  half the time.

“Look, usually I get him a cake and buy him something lame. But I can’t really do that this year,” Dean rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “We’ve been kinda tight on cash since that Disneyworld trip and—”

Cas took a swig of his beer. “What are you thinking, Dean?”

“Well…” Dean sighed, leaning back against the couch, beer in his hand. “I kinda want to throw the kid a party. He hasn’t had one since he was six, and it might be nice…get everyone together and…”

Cas smiled. “Sounds like a good idea. What do we need first?”

“Well, first we’ll need a cake…”

————

“Look, you asshole, you make cakes for a living, can’t you just make a small one for us?” Dean yelled as Gabriel pulled his hair out of the pony-tail at the end of his shift. Sure, maybe Dean had ambushed him at the end of his shift, but still, the guy was an jerk.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and hung his frosting-stained apron on a peg in the back room of the cupcake shop. “Correction; I  _sell_  cakes for a living. If you come back here with some cash, I can scrounge up something for you—”

Dean throw a look in Cas’s direction—a look that hopefully conveyed, “You talk to this prick; he’s your brother and he likes you!”. It seemed to, as Cas said in a calmer tone than Dean had ever heard him, “Gabriel, Dean is just asking if you can make something small up for Sam’s birthday. Dean is trying to make it special this year. You don’t have to go all out—just something—”

Dean knew it was the right choice to get Cas to ask it. Gabriel sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. “Fine, I can do something. But one condition,” he smirked, “I’m invited. If I’m gonna make cake for free, I damn well want to be able to eat it.”

That was  _not_ in the plans, but Dean figured there was no way to weasel out of this one. “Fine. Asshole. Just make sure it’s ready.”

“Oh, anything for Cassie’s boyfriend,” Gabe winked. Cas blushed and Dean rolled his eyes in disgust.

“Shut up and stop teasing him. You have no idea how much shit we have to plan today; just go make that damn cake.”

———————

Cake was a go, but there was still the other part of the equation: a present. Dean wanted to get Sammy something, but if he was perfectly honest, he couldn’t afford it right now. To give Sam that trip to Disneyworld cut a lot out of their budget and they were still feeling the hit.

Not that Sam knew about that, of course. Dean never really told him how much he had to cut back so they could afford those plane tickets, even if everything else was paid for. Airlines were douchenozzles that cranked the price up hourly.

Dean just wanted to get Sam a good gift, especially since last year he got him a  _razor_  (well, the kid finally had a little peach fuzz growing in, but still…).

But getting a good gift with about three bucks to your name (at least until Friday) was rather difficult.

Well, he could try.

“Hey, Sammy,” said Dean, as he sat at the kitchen table. Sam looked up at him through heavily tired-eyes. Half the kitchen table was covered in Sam’s books and notes. “How’s the studying coming?”

Sam made a noise that Dean supposed approximated the sound of a dying moose.

“That bad, huh?”

“Do you need something, Dean?”

“Yeah, actually,” Dean smirked, trying to play this cool. If there was one thing he knew, he knew how to play cool. “Big day tomorrow, huh?”

Sam blinked for a moment. His brows furrowed, then— “Oh. Yeah. I guess.”

“C’mon, aren’t you a little excited?”

Sam gave a snort and looked back at his textbook. “Yeah. Wahoo. I can get drunk in Canada.”

“Dude, you can get drunk here if you—”

“Yeah, like I have the time for that now. Dean, I have to memorize the questions in chapters 6-8 before the end of the night; is there something you want?”

Dean sighed. The kid did always have to be difficult. So much for his cool act. “You want anything for your birthday, Sammy?”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, I want finals to be over. But I’ve still got a week and a half of this stuff.”

“Really, Sam—”

“Look, Dean,” Sam finally met his eyes, and while sleep deprived and slightly bloodshot, he never looked so serious. “I don’t want you to make an effort, okay? You’ve got a lot of crap on your plate right now. Besides, we can’t afford it—”

Dean gulped; how did he—? “Sammy—”

“I know you’ve been cutting back, okay? I know you’ve been begging Bobby for more shifts when he can’t give you any more. Just don’t—don’t trouble yourself for me, okay? It’s just a birthday; I have one every year. Just—I dunno. Maybe an hour of family time during a study break? That’s all I really want.”

But that was so  _lame._  Still, the kid was rocking the Trademark Poor Orphan/Sad Puppy Eyes so… “Fine, Sammy, whatever. I’ll leave you to your studying.”

“Thanks, man. And I do appreciate you trying to make a fuss, but Dean, I don’t need it.”

“Yeah…” Dean sighed, getting up from the table. Walking back into his room, he shut the door, figuring he’d bothered Sam enough for the night.

Still, “family time”? What was he supposed to do with that? Him and Cas were already planning an epic surprise party behind his back, so how was he supposed to get Sam “family time” as an epic present if…

_If…._

Dean took a long swig of beer. Well, it would be difficult—incredibly difficult, but…if he could pull this off—Sam might just have the best birthday he had in a long time.

—————-

Sam apparently wanted to sit indoors and study all through his birthday. Thankfully, his girlfriend could be persuaded to get him out of the house while they get everything together. Dean woke up early and waited for Sam to get in the shower before grabbing Sam’s phone, finding Jess’s number and texting,  _“This is Dean. Need Sam out of the house to set up for surprise bday. Can you help?”_  A minute later she texted back saying _“You bet!”_

Dean didn’t consider himself a good actor, be he deserved a friggin’ Oscar for how well he concealed his plan from his little brother that morning. With just a “Happy Birthday, Sammy” and an affectionate rub on his head as they dug in to stale Cheerios, he ate and washed up like he hadn’t spent all night planning it out with Cas.

Sam seemed pretty surprised around noon when Jess called, telling him she was taking him to a movie on his birthday. “But…I’ve got to study…I know it’s my birthday Jess, but…okay…fine…I’ll, uh…meet you there.” Sam clicked off his phone and looked at Dean. “Um, Jess decided we are going to a movie. So—”

Dean grinned, “I knew she was a keeper! C’mon, Sammy, what’s a few hours loss of studying? You’ve got all week. Go have fun. Maybe if you tell ‘em, it’s your birthday, they’ll give you free popcorn.”

“I wish,” Sam rolled his eyes, grabbing his jacket.

“I’ll drop you off,” Dean smiled. “C’mon, lets get going before you miss the showing.”

Of course, Dean had an ulterior motive; the movie theater was close to his destination. But Sam wasn’t to know that—had to play it cool.

But as soon as Sammy was out of the car and Jess gave Dean a knowing wink, Dean got back on main street and headed deeper into town. He didn’t come this way often, but he always made sure he knew how to get there, just in case.

Dean always looked out for family, even if the family wasn’t exactly on the best terms with them.

———————-

The few times Dean dared to knock on the door, it was Samandriel that awkwardly answered it after some long seconds. This time though, his hand had barely left the door when Adam, flung it open—it didn’t take a genius to realize Adam was hoping for someone else, as a barely contained smile was forced down. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Hi,” Dean waved awkwardly. Adam was always a weird subject. Especially considering he would’ve had to have been born before his parents were 100% divorced and he and Sam didn’t even know they had a half-brother for most of their lives. It wasn’t until John Winchester died that Adam’s mom had come forward to tell them the truth. It had to have been worse for Adam, Dean imagined—to have a Dad for a bit and then that Dad to suddenly vanish and only to find out years later that was because his  _other_  family needed him, and then to have his mom die suddenly not soon after—yeah, no doubt, the kid had a rough life and didn’t really trust him.

Well, that was still bullshit in Dean’s mind. They were family and at this point, John’s mistakes shouldn’t matter.

“Um, can I come in?”

Adam looked a bit reluctant, but then stepped back a bit to let Dean in. As soon as the door shut, Adam lashed out, “Okay, why are you here?”

“Can’t I check up on my little brother?”

Adam folded his arms and continued to look at him skeptically. “That’s your excuse?”

“It’s a legitimate reason!” Dean  _hated_ the usual interrogation. “You’re family, all right? I’d appreciate it if you’d return my calls once in a while, so yeah, I want to check up on you. The only reason you’re not living under my roof right now, kiddo, is because I letting you have your space, but I’m gonna worry about my family. Get used to it.”

Adam did his usual Oh-My-God-Why-Are-You-Treating-Me-Like-A-Kid-I-Am-So-Grown-Up face, but Dean wasn’t really paying attention. He figured out what felt so weird. “Where’s Samandriel? He’s usually practically hanging off you.”

Dean expected the usual “Fuck off”, but instead Adam got real quiet. Through clenched teeth, Adam admitted, “He’s not here. Visiting his brothers. Family thing. Anyway, you’ve checked up on me. I’m alive. You can leave now.”

Dean sighed, running a hand through his hair. He’d have to get to the point then. “Listen, Adam. We’re family, all right? I know it’s weird for you—it’s weird for all of us, okay? But we gotta accept it. Our parents are dead, man! We’re all we’ve got left, so we gotta—”

“Yeah, my mom  _is_  dead!” Adam snapped, “My dad’s dead too, though he liked to pretend I didn’t exist! Sammie’s the only person who ever seemed to give a crap and now he’s—” Adam paused, swallowed, and continued, “He’s not here. But that doesn’t mean I’m about to be all lovey dovey with you guys just because we happen to have the same deadbeat dad!”

Dean’s hand formed a fist at his side. “I am not gonna make any excuses for  _our_ dad, but listen up, kid—don’t go thinking no one gives a crap about you, all right? You’ve got a family, right here, and if you ever wanted to be a part of it, we’d welcome you with open arms. You know Sammy? He was fucking thrilled to find out he had a little brother—he wasn’t the youngest anymore. And you know what? He would be fucking thrilled if you actually came over once in a while. Look, its Sam’s birthday, all right? And he hasn’t had very many good birthdays. He hasn’t seen you in ages, and if you would just do us a fucking solid, man up, and maybe try a little, it would make him happy. Hell, it might make you happy. So, you willing or not?” Dean paused, and added. “There’s cake. And booze. But only if you’re a good boy.”

Adam gulped, and stared at a spot on the floor for a long moment before he replied.

————————-

Dean was nervous when Jess texted to tell them they were on their way back. Dean hadn’t wanted to go all out, but Cas had hit up a party store on his way home from his half-shift at work and dug into the bargain bin. They had a “Happy Birthday!” banner pinned up, along with some streamers and ugly Batman party hats. Dean put one on at once and even convinced Cas to wear one. The Batman-adorned cone hat was lopsided atop Cas’s messy dark hair but well…Dean liked it that way. Cas doing silly things was always fun.

Gabe had even come through with the cake—it wasn’t big, or fancy, but it was chocolate with some fancy blue squiggly “Happy Birthday” written on top in fondant, but hey, it was cake. And they got it for free. At the cost of Gabe giggling and wearing two party hats on his chest like a Madonna cone bra, but whatever.

Dean’s heart thudded in his chest as he heard Sam and Jess coming down the hallway…at the door…opening the door.

Cas flicked on the light.

“Surprise!” They all jumped out, as Sam, caught like a moose in headlights, stared at them.

“What—I—uh—” he stammered, as Jess grinned and hugged him. Sam’s face scanned the crowd, blushing as Dean and Cas smiled, cocking his head as Gabe winked and fondled his party hat cone bra, (yeah, Gabe had done some pregaming) and then came to rest at the last member of their party.

Dean smiled, steering an awkward Adam towards Sam. “You said you wanted some family time, so…”

Adam looked up at Sam, forced a smile and said, “So, it’s your birthday, huh? Happy Birthday, I guess…”

And Sam just melted.

Dean knew there were tears in Sam’s eyes as he stepped away from Jess, and just hugged that kid tight. And after a few seconds, Adam hugged him back.   

The moment, of course, was ruined by Gabe announcing, “Are we gonna stand here crying or are we gonna eat the cake I worked my ass off on?”

Dean sighed. Of course Gabe had to ruin it. Sam and Adam broke apart awkwardly  but still, the moment had happened. It wasn’t perfect, but…maybe, from now on, things would start to heal. 

And Dean just beamed. 


End file.
